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You are here: Home>Places>Tuam Heritage and Nature Trail

Tuam Heritage and Nature Trail

Intended aim of the trail

Welcome to Tuam. It is my hope that this heritage trail will be used to help people learn more about our place and enjoy the historic sites of the town, as well as providing an enjoyable experience for those visiting Tuam. I have included many of the main heritage sites but there is so much more to learn about Tuam, its history, industrial heritage, environment and biodiversity.

I am grateful for the support of Tony Claffey on whose endless research this heritage trail is based. I would also like to thank my sister, Brigid Dermody, for her assistance in reviewing this text.

Disclaimer: This is an information guide and does not act in any way as an invitation to any person to enter onto any of the properties listed. While every care has been taken to ensure accuracy in its compilation, neither the writer nor owners of the properties listed can accept responsibility for errors, omissions, or inaccuracies. All information is received and published in good faith. All liabilities for loss, disappointment, negligence or any other damage caused by the reliance on information contained within is hereby excluded.

About Tuam

Tuam is situated thirty kilometres north-east of Galway city on the N83. It is the second largest town in County Galway and is a hub for indigenous industries. These businesses are provided with easy motorway access along the M18 and M17 from Limerick, which intersects the M6 north on the N17. Tuam is also within a two-and-a-half-hour drive of three international airports namely Knock, Shannon, and Dublin. It is in the heartland of Gaelic football and Saint Jarlath’s College, located in the town are traditionally kings of the Hogan Cup having won it an unprecedented twelve times.

History of Tuam

In the Bronze Age, approximately 1500 B.C. it is believed that there was a burial ground located near the River Nanny at the bridge on present-day Shop Street.[1] It may have been a partial esker, a type of gravel mound. Two hills, one at Market Square and the other at Tullindaly border the site and from it the town gets its name, Tuaim Da Ghualann or ‘the tumulus of the two shoulders’.

The town can trace its history back to 526 A.D. when Saint Jarlath or Naomh Iarlath, a noble of the Conmaicne Cineil Dubain local kingdom, set out from his abbey at Cloonfush four kilometres west of Tuam on a mission to set up a new school. Legend has it that Saint Benan advised Jarlath to leave Cloonfush and told him that the place where his chariot wheel broke would be the site of his new monastery. His chariot wheel broke at Tuam and Jarlath became the first bishop of Conmaicne Cineil Dubain. While this might seem like a nice folk tale, it also fits well with what is generally known about the development of Christianity and the Church in Ireland at that time.[2]

No evidence of Saint Jarlath survives lending credence to the view that the Vikings plundered Tuam and they may have prompted the building of the round tower at Killbannon. There are three sites associated with Jarlath; ‘Toberjarlath’, one kilometre south-east of Market Square, ‘Templejarlath’ and ‘Templenascreen’. Because of the reinternment of Jarlath’s relics to Templenascreen on 6 June, his feast day is celebrated on that date.[3] In the thirteenth century, there were churches located at all these sites of pilgrimage.

At that time, the geography of the town placed Tuam in an important position. To the west was the Clare River and between it and Lough Corrib lay Mag Seola, the territory of the O’Flahertys.[4] When Aed O’Connor overthrew the O’Flahertys in 1051, Tuam became a vital foothold and ultimately the seat of power as Aed gained the High-kingship of Connacht.[5] Thus, the town came to be a place of great eminence, made further so by the creation of an arch-diocese for Connacht at Tuam.[6]

[1] J.A. Claffey, A brief history of Tuam: a town of two cathedrals, (Galway, 2006), p. 3.

[2] Tony Claffey, ‘Pre-twelve century Tuam’, in Glimpses of Tuam through the centuries: proceedings of a seminar 23 September 2013, (2013), pp 7-8.

[3] Ibid, p. 9.

[4] Ibid, p. 11.

[5] Ibid, p. 11.

[6] Griffin Murray, ‘The establishment of Tuam as an archdiocesan capital in the twelfth century’, in Glimpses of Tuam through the centuries: proceedings of a seminar 23 September 2013, (2013), p. 21.

  • 01. St Mary’s Cathedral

    01. St Mary’s Cathedral

  • 02. The Abbey of the Holy Trinity

    02. The Abbey of the Holy Trinity

  • 03. The riverside walkway

    03. The riverside walkway

  • 04. The Annemarie McHugh Remembrance Park

    04. The Annemarie McHugh Remembrance Park

  • 05. King Ruairdrí O’Connor Park and the Little Mill Museum

    05. King Ruairdrí O’Connor Park and the Little Mill Museum

  • 06. Bridge House, 1819

    06. Bridge House, 1819

  • 07. Waterslade House

    07. Waterslade House

  • 08. Riverside garden and landscaped car park

    08. Riverside garden and landscaped car park

  • 09. Palace Grounds Park

    09. Palace Grounds Park

  • 10. River walk to Bishop Street Bridge

    10. River walk to Bishop Street Bridge

  • 11. Mule Sculpture

    11. Mule Sculpture

  • 12. Templenascreen

    12. Templenascreen

  • 13. The Eggstore

    13. The Eggstore

  • 14. Saint Jarlath’s ‘Old College’

    14. Saint Jarlath’s ‘Old College’

  • 15.	The Archbishop’s House

    15. The Archbishop’s House

  • 16.	Saint Jarlath’s Broken Wheel

    16. Saint Jarlath’s Broken Wheel

  • 17.	Cathedral of the Assumption

    17. Cathedral of the Assumption

  • 18. Saint Jarlath’s College

    18. Saint Jarlath’s College

  • 19.	 Mercy Convent

    19. Mercy Convent

  • 20.	 Presentation Convent

    20. Presentation Convent

  • 21.	The Palace (Restaurant)

    21. The Palace (Restaurant)

  • 22.	1916 – 1966 Monument

    22. 1916 – 1966 Monument

  • 23.	The Domestic Quarters and Stables

    23. The Domestic Quarters and Stables

  • 24. The Chair of Tuam

    24. The Chair of Tuam

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Places
  • 3D model of Medieval Athenry
  • 3D Model of Medieval Loughrea
  • Athenry Medieval Walled Town
  • Aughnanure Castle
  • Ballinlass
  • Boat Building
  • Castle Door
  • Children playing in the school yard
  • Church Bells
  • Clifden Quay
  • Creggs and District
  • Cutting Turf
  • Discovery in the playground
  • Fishing on Lough Corrib
  • Foyles Hotel
  • Glengowla Mines
  • Herding Sheep with a whistle
  • Irish Traditional Music (Banjo)
  • Irish Traditional Music (Mandolin)
  • John Darcy's Former Home
  • Joyce Country Wool
  • Junior B Ladies Final
  • Kinvara
  • Lavelle Art Gallery
  • Lawrencetown Village, East Galway, Ireland
  • Loch Con Aortha Website
  • Lough Corrib
  • Loughrea
  • Owenriff River
  • Practising the Tin Whistle
  • Prayers in Irish
  • Sound inside the Old Hydro Electric Plant
  • Spinning Wool
  • St. Cathaldus' Church
  • St. Mary's Cathedral, Tuam
  • Stairwell of a castle
  • Stanley's Cash Till
  • Stanleys
  • The High Cross
  • The Humors of the Joyce Country (Irish Folk Song)
  • The Irish Pub
  • The Lakeshore Town (Song)
  • The Old Hydro Electric Plan
  • The Oughterard Trout Hatchery
  • The Town
  • The Tuam Showbands
  • Tuam Mill Wheel
  • Tuam Sugar Plant
  • Monivea
  • Dunmore
  • Sound Map Of Galway
  • Donaghpatrick Kilcoona Heritage Society
  • Killimor Heritage Group
  • Galway's Holy Wells
  • Clarinbridge Heritage
  • Joyce Country
  • Athenry Parish Heritage
  • Clifden Heritage
  • Oranmore Heritage
  • Williamstown Heritage Society
  • Headford
  • Mountbellew Heritage and Tourism Network
  • Tuam Heritage and Nature Trail
  • Loughrea Heritage Trail
  • Coiste an Chillín
  • Connemara Roots –NW Connemara Heritage
  • Ballinasloe World War One Heritage Group
  • Townlands of County Galway
  • Battle of Aughrim Visitor Centre
  • Galway East Townland Research
  • Galway Beo project
  • Palace Grounds Tuam
  • Towns and Villages
  • Galway East Trails & Tours
  • Loughrea Medieval Memory Map & Trail: For Kids By Kids
  • Athenry Medieval Memory Map & Trail: For Kids By Kids - Slí & Mapa Cuimhne Bhaile Átha an Rí sa mheánaois: do Leanaí le Leanaí
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This website is a member of the Irish Community Archive Network and is a joint initiative of Galway County Council Heritage Office and the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life
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